Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-02-19
For the ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE.
The TRUE idea OF the Church.


lowing statements, with slight changes from
recent publication of distinguished
American preacher
"The word church in the true, primitive
and New Testament sense is wholly different
from any one OF the senses in which the
word is current in American speech.
THE two commonest conceptions Of the
church among American Christians may ce
characterized as the CongregattOnalist view
ana the Secta;ian view-both OF them radi-
cally unscriptural and fnise.
l. 1.-THE Congregationalist view holds that
church is company of believers gathered
out of the Christian community ny volunta'
ry association, and organized for worship
and for other Christian duty. This view
finds in every community Of Christians as
many churches as there are organized a5so-
Citations of this kind, and holds that every
such congregation is an independent unit of
sovereignty, owing duties of comfy courte-
sy, and fellowship to the rest, doubtless, but
each in itself a complete church. Seeking
its warrant in the Scriptures, it plants itself
with immense strength on the undeniable,
constant usage of the New Testament, which
never speaks of the church OF q province,
no matter how small the province may be,
but always of the churches Little Achaia
had no institution called the church OF
Achaia > but it had churches and so with
Galatia The little patch OF Asia Minor,
which is the New Testament Asia, had GER
taiuly more than seven churches, but 70
Church of Asia Corinth had its own
church and the harbor town of Corlnth,
Cenchre;e, nine miles distant, had its own
church, too The point seems inexpugna.
IN. 3oI,o !, hnI
that the church is q provincial organization
stretching oyer a considerable region and
embracing many towns. But while holding
this point so clearly, the adherents OF this
theory bave resolutely blinked another
point which is just as clear and constant, to
wit that the Scriptures. which never speak
of the church OF any province, equally re-
frain from speaking OF the churches OF
town. The Christians Of town multiply
by thousands they are disturbed by mutual
alterations aud serious variations lii opinion,
and strong personal attachments TO different
leaders but they are always one church in
that town; and if division seems to i'm
pend, the apostle deprecates it with horror,
saying. L beseech you by the name OF cur
Lord Jesus Christ, dou'l divide. All which
is very unlike Congregaionaiism.
. But it is still more unlike the alterna-
live theory of SectdridRiSm; which holds not
only that the Christian population of any
town may properly be split up into different
parties without common organization, but
also that each one of these parties entering
into confederation with like party in other
communities, becomes thus constituent
part of church-not OF the town church
where it exists, but Of sect of Christians
extended over q nation or continent. For
this national party Of Christians it calls by
the name church though it is as far TemoV-
ed from anything known by that name in
the New Testamentas can well he imagined.
In the dialect Of the New Testament there
are names distinctly applied to the sort OF
organization which we commonly call by
the name of church. 1t is spoken CT there
as Schisma or hoircsis. We shall inevitably
20 astray in all our reasonings OH this sub
liect unless we bear in mind that the preva-
lent American use of the word church is one
unknown to the Scriptures. Using words
in their apostolic and primitive sense, we
should properly speak Of Congress OF
Churches as q Congress OF SchsmS, or OF
Heresies.'
"AnG it is we'll to remark, in passing, that
this misnomer is not in the least justified by
the fact that come one or other OF these
schsms is disposed to insist, with somewhat
that The others are not churches. OF course
they are not churches-any Of them "A
party of Christians is not the church, any
more than party of citizens s the State
any more than the part Of anything is the
whole oft.
g. "And let me, iii one moro word, note
caution against one other misconcepton OF
the church. which I suspect to be prevalent
that the church of Christ is the sum OF
existing so. called churches, schsms, or (ac
cordng to q favorite American euphemism)
denominations According 10 the New
Testament conception, the church is made
up of the Christian people, not Of Christian
parties. 1t is the communion of saints,
not the confederation Of sscts. The king
dom of Christ is the Commonwealth of all
humble aud holy souls His reign is within
them.
Setting aside, thus, three untenable con-
captions ~ That church is q club Of
Christians formed on some principle of SO
lection out Of Christian community; ~ that
A church is q sect of Christians constituted
over large region by the federation of such
local clubs; 81 that the church is the total
ity of sects setting these aside propose as
the true conception, that the church Of any
place is the wholeC ommonwealth of theChris-
tan people of that place. There have been
many notes of the proposed by
Christians of various parties-form of gov
eminent, pedigree of ordination, purity of
doctrine, universally of extent-always
|; with view to this: that the application oil
them shall prove each mans party TO be The
only church, and shall leave the other par
ties outside of it. But it is not difficult in
reading the Acts and letters of the Apostles
to recognize this as tho one trait of the
church as they understood it, that it was
the fellowship of all the Christians"
A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST.